Love and Work
by davkerrith
Summary: A private soldier must carry the balance between a love he couldn't live without and a profession that may just kill him.


The hallway was empty as David, unlocked the door and pushed it up with his butt, his arms full of grocery bags. The badly light hallway turned into a dark room as he closed the door behind him. The only light came from the dim screen saver of the computer. His feet bumped into the desk and the room light up as the screen saver dissipated, revealing a small living room with only one couch, a coffee table and a rather decent sized television. There was no other sound than the hum of the monitor, as he paused to listen.

He turned left into the kitchen, setting the groceries on the counter, without flicking the light on. He took one of the bags and set it in the refrigerator, and unloaded another bag into the freezer, being more careful with that one. He left the other two where they were and walked back into the living room. He curled up on the couch, and as he let out a yawn, the monitor went back to the screen saver, plunging the room yet again in darkness. Within moments, the gentle silence was complimented by the soft breathing of the young man on the couch, now with a quilt half over him with his feet plainly sticking out.

Two hours passed before, the door opened, this time by a time by a young woman, he short brown her tossed about, and soaked thoroughly. He jeans and jacket where also damp, but not quite as much as her hair and the hood of her hoodie. She un-zippered her hoodie and tossed is haphazardly onto the coffee. Unknowingly, it crashed into a pair of empty beer bottles that she realized David must have left there from last night. The noise surprised her, until she realized what it must be and a frown spread across her cute face. She didn't like that he drank. Especially beer, it smelled awful, and she always refused to kiss him if he drank any. Most of the time, if she brought that up, he would stop, but other nights it was too late. Not that, she thought he drank too much, he never really did. Sometimes he would go to the bar after getting out of the station, or if he had a long weekend, take the opportunity. For the most part he stayed away, at least more than when he had turned twenty-two.

Karen shook her head, dismissing those thought. She was tired and her mind as wandering. It was then that she noticed that she had left the computer on before she had left. She took the moment to switch it off. She stifled a yawn and closed her eyes, listening to the gentle hum of the computer. As it went quiet, she heard another soft noise. With the screen now just shutting off, she caught a quick glimpse of David sprawled out on the couch, his feet hanging off. It caught her off guard and caused her to smile. He could be so silly sometimes, but that is one of the things she was attracted to in him. She walked over to the couch and knelt in front of it, adjusting the quilt over top of him. Her eyes wandered to his placid face as he slept. Her hand slowly crept up his arm, following the muscle with a light touch. She would never admit it, but she liked the feel of his muscles. Of course he had been attractive before, but she was becoming the fond of having a strong boyfriend.

A thought passed her mind, and she leaned into him, softly placing a kiss on his lips. At first there was no response, but his lips stirred and pressed back against hers. A warm sensation spread across her face as she flushed, but instinctively her eyes closed and leaned into it. A moment passed, then another. Softly their lips broke apart and both let out a soft and fulfilled sigh. As she opened her eyes, she saw that his had opened, and he had a satisfied look on his face.

"What a pleasant way to be woken up," he said quietly.

She shook her head and gently kisses his nose. "Do you really plan on sleeping on the couch again?"

"Alone, no, but if that's how it would end up, I would rather get up and join you," he said with a smirk on his face.

"Then get off your ass, and let's go, I want to go to bed."

David weaseled himself off of the couch, a slipped her hand into his and meandered to the bedroom. First she slipped off her pants and tossed them into the hamper before she slipped into the bed, curling up underneath the blankets. He followed after her and as he lay down, wrapped his arms around her. She softly rested her head in the cradle of his shoulder, closing her eyes with a gentle smile resting on her lips. They lay together until they quickly drifted off to sleep, both tired from the long day.

The morning came a little quicker than imagined, and the two of them awoke, face to face, arms around each other, with their legs entwined. A smile was worn on both of their faces as they lay their, staring into each others eyes. A few minutes of quiet passed between them, before Karen lifted her self up, wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself into him and kissed him tenderly on the lips.

"Good morning, Davey," she said softly, her voice still a little scratchy from the night.

The cuteness of it caused him to grin. She smiled at first, but then she began to pout. "You're so cute," he replied, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her onto of him, her chin resting on his chest. He quietly whispered "I love you Karen," and as he finished, she snuggled against him and closed her eyes again.

"Nope, none of that, we have to get up," he said, shaking her gently. Her response was to wrap her arms around him more tightly and nuzzle against him. "Hey, come on that's no fair," he whimpered. She did the same thing, so he simply wrapped his arms more tightly around her waist and pulled her face to face with him. Her eyes gazed at his, passion glowing brightly.

"I'll take my shower first," she said before kissing his nose. "Dork," was the last words out of her mouth as she slipped out of his arms and darted out of the bedroom.

"You're lucky you're cute!" he called after her, grinning. David then stifled another yawn and began making the bed.

The shower had assuredly given her the wake up call she had needed. The comforting warm water and cleansed off the morning stench which David said she didn't have. She smiled at the thought as she stepped out of the shower, after toweling herself off, and slipped on her robe. It was a genuine silk kimono that David had given to her as an anniversary gift. She absolutely loved it at first sight. Sometimes he had trouble finding gifts for her, but often enough he came through with something real special. She took the towel and wiped off the mirror and posed in front of it, seeing what David saw in the mirror. The morning was always a special time for her now; it gave her the chance to see how beautiful she was. David had a part in it of course; he was such a sweet and wonderful man. She gently bit her bottom lip as she debated walking out with her hair down and just the kimono, but he had work all too soon and needed to get in the shower next.

She wrapped her hair up in the towel after drying it some. When she stepped out of the bathroom, the steam followed her out in a cloud. David was in the kitchen at the stove. She breathed in through her nose, to be rewarded with the smell of breakfast. It smelled delicious, and he stomach began to grumble. It was a slight sound, and she couldn't tell if he had heard or not. Whether or not he had heard it, she didn't care. Slowly, she crept up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing heavily against him.

"Well I guess you're out of the shower then," he replied, wrapping an arm around behind him, resting it over the small of her back. She shivered at first, but then he felt her cheek resting against his shoulder. "So, would the lovely young Karen care to join me for breakfast before I take my shower?"

Karen let her arms relax, releasing him, and allowing him to switch off the stove. He turned around and she could see in his eyes the amusement of her choice of clothing.

"Karen, you never cease to look beautiful," he said, as he looked down into her eyes. His body pressed against hers as his arms slid around her waist and pulled her against him. Slowly he leaned over as she looked up and closed her eyes, readying her self for the feeling of his warm lips. When the kiss arrived came, the excitement ran through her and she felt herself getting hot as the kiss became more passionate. She slipped her arms over his shoulders and around his neck, pulling him down, holding him to her lips. _God, I love him so much_, she thought to herself as the kiss slowly broke.

"How soon do you have to work?" she asked, almost begging him.

David glanced at the clock on the wall and replied, "I have a little while," before he gave her another quick kiss. "I hate to even think this question, but do you want to eat first," he said weakly, his eyes not leaving hers.

Karen replied with a nod and took a seat at the table, glancing at his butt as he went about dumping the eggs and bacon onto a pair of plates. He tossed a few pieces of toast next and set them on the table. Then he asked her what she would like to drink.

She thought for a moment, and responded, "Orange juice?"

"Alright, coming up," he replied, moving to the fridge with a pair of empty glasses. It took only a moment for him to fill them and move over to his chair, directly across from her. He set the glasses, down and waited for her.

She reached for the fork that had been set there for her and took a gentle hold on it, before taking a bite of her eggs. _Oh, its delicious, I just love when he makes me breakfast_, she thought, smiling at him as she took another bite. Soon he followed suit, and the two quietly, however, she wasn't quite content with breakfast. Her blood was pumping still, and her excitement was raging. She slid her foot along is calf, teasing his feet with hers. A grin spread across his face and he rubbed his foot against hers. The two of them finished their breakfast rather quickly, and left the plates on the table.

Together they stood at the door, her in his arms, staring up at him. He never could resist that face; all he ever wanted was to make her happy. He felt himself leaning down and kissing her. The feel of her soft, moist lips against his brought back thoughts of how deeply he was intoxicated with her. David had double timed his shower and slipped into his uniform. The fatigues and boots were the easy part, and it never felt right being in his gear when Karen was around. He never did get around to asking how she felt about what he did, but he wasn't sure he wanted to. She loved him and she meant the world to him, that's all that mattered. He felt her hand slip out of his as she stepped out the open door.

"I love you Karen," he said, his eyes following the curves of her face.

"I love you too Davey, stay safe, okay?" she responded, her smile fading a bit.

"Don't worry sweetie, we are only doing drills today," he said, sounding disappointed when he said 'drills'. "I'll see you tonight, alright?"

She smiled distantly and nodded, leaning in for one last kiss before she turned around and left. He kissed her softly, and felt her lips pull away as she turned.

_Bye Karen, I love you so much,_ he thought as he put on the rest of his gear. As he got ready and left, she didn't leave his mind once.

He could see the warehouses in the distance, but traffic had steadily built up in front of his blue Volkswagen Jetta. He had left early enough that the traffic wouldn't get him reprimanded for being late, but that didn't sate the need to get there and get out of the thick heat that seemed to have dropped down over the city. Even as early as he had left traffic still was deep enough in all lanes to cause the most patient man to start tapping his fingers. David, however, was not that patient; instead, he rolled down his windows and was blasting the Dropkick Murphy's from his C.D player. This was not to say that he was one of those people that deliberately bothered people with his car, but with all the noise, it didn't seem to matter.

Reaching behind his seat, he dug around through the pile of junk that had accumulated since the last time he had cleaned out his car. He moved his hand back and forth until he felt what he was looking for. When David had brought his hand back to the front seat, he was holding a pair of drum sticks and started tapping away on the steering wheel, matching the beat the best he could. It didn't match to well, but it helped in relieve stress, and by the time the traffic dissipated and he pulled into the warehouse district he had a smile on his face.

The parking lot was still relatively empty, so he pulled into his usual spot, four spaces from the right of the door. They were required to leave the two spots in front of the office clear in case anything happened, and he always kept it one over in case anything did happen, so that his car wouldn't have any major problems. After shutting off his car he had a quick smoke outside as two other cars pulled in. After he finished, he flicked his butt to the side onto the pavement and swiped his pass card, entering the building slowly. The hallway was bare except for a bulletin board and a time clock. He punched into the time clock with a swipe of his car and a quick password.

_There we go, I'm in, now to figure out which office the meeting is in_, he thought to himself. He took a left by the front desk which was empty. Since Ernie, the guard wasn't there, he figured he was getting his orders and the E.S.C.S, or Electronic Security Counter-measure System was on. That was his sign to double step to the first office, which he noticed had the green light above it on, meaning it was clear to enter. He stepped in and his eyes went wide.

Immediately he stood at attention and saluted. Before him stood the most powerful commanding officers in the entire organization, all of which turned to look at him as the door opened.

"Sirs, First Sergeant David Reynolds, my apologies sir."

Their reaction was that of humor at first, but Major Murdock, his office's C.O was shaking his head.

"Reynolds, shake the brown off your nose at sit down," Murdock said his deep, scratchy voice causing his spine to straighten, for him to stop the salute and take his seat at the table.

"Martin, Frank, meet Reynolds, my current F.S, damn good man, but you can tell he's not ex like most of the boys, we dug him right out of the locals after they turned him down for S.W.A.T."

David's face immediately went gray as the memory was brought back. He had passed the S.W.A.T examinations with better than passing grades, but he was passed up for someone who the Chief's son had served with. Though unhappy about it, he did not voice this opinion to anyone else as he knew ex-military always had first right if they proved himself. However, he was approached by the company's recruiter and was offered a tactical job. At first he was concerned with leaving the force, but the Chief had given a call to them and put in his recommendation, so he took the offer.

"First Sergeant," the older of the two men, First Head Officer Frank Braun, the company's head started, "Feel free to be at ease here, we are here to discuss an upcoming event for the company, so the drills are canceled for today," he said with a smile.

It became obvious to them that he had been excited for the drills when they saw the look of disappointment on his face.

"Don't worry son, what we are going to discuss might be right up your alley if that looks means what I hope it does," said Second Head Officer Martin Pratt.

David's face went from disappointment to curiosity, so he took the moment to lean back in his chair and wait for the others to arrive.

One by one the others in his unit filed into the room, most of them standing a little straighter when they realized who was in the room, then took their seats. After about fifteen minutes, and the last man, Captain Derrick Bane, entered, the two Head Officers greeted the crowd and switched off the lights.


End file.
